Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
In what will probably go down as one of the most popular victories to date, Bob Phinnemore returned to Sunset Speedway victory lane as he scored the feature victory in the Signs of Innovation Mighty Mini division.
The night didn’t start off smoothly as Nick St. Onge would go around in turns three and four on lap two in the first heat, leaving Josh Inglis nowhere to go; the result would be heavy front end damage to Inglis’ ride. A second caution would fly three laps later when Mike Robinson Jr. slowed. He wouldn’t be the only driver with mechanical issues as Dylan Holmes slowed under the yellow, while Melissa Bullen headed pit-side with two laps to go. Randi Seguin grabbed her first Sunset Speedway victory ahead of Phinnemore, Joe Dunlop, Stefan Woyslaw, Nic Montanari, Treyten Lapcevoch, Stefan Semeraro and Chris Allard.
The mechanical gremlins continued for drivers in the second heat as Peter Wakeling headed to pit road on the opening lap, while Wendy Adams slowed with problems on lap eight. The restart brought forth bigger problems with Robert Toope going up in smoke. Fred Jordan grabbed his first heat win of the year ahead of Cameron McGlashan, Richard Butler, Jeremy McLean, Doug Wilman, Eric Rainey, Chandler Bos and Lisa DeLeeuw.
The b-main would result in more trouble for St. Onge as he’d slow on lap eight. Stefan Semeraro would go on to win for his first Sunset Speedway victory ahead of Bos, Bullen, Adams, Holmes, Robinson Jr., Campbell, DeLeeuw and St. Onge.
The Dash for Cash saw a continuation of mechanical problems as Woyslaw headed to pit road on lap three. Phinnemore would go on to take the victory ahead of Montanari, McGlashan, Dunlop, Butler, Seguin, McLean, Rainey, Lapcevich and Wilman.
Come feature time, Doug Wilman would start on pole in his No. 14 D’s Smoke Shack – Rama, Wild Wing Barrie and Royal Oak Orilia ride ahead of Dylan Holmes, Chandler Bos, Eric Rainey, Joe Dunlop, Melissa Bullen, Stefan Woyslaw, Randi Seguin, Richard Butler, Treyten Lapcevich, Fred Jordan, Bob Phinnemore, Wendy Adams, Cameron McGlashan, Nic Montanari, Jake Watson, Stefan Semeraro, Mike Robinson Jr. and Lisa DeLeeuw.
Wilman would take the early lead while Holmes and Rainey battled for second. Rainey would get the spot, with Dunlop following through to get third. Rainey was then able to catch Wilman for the lead, completing the pass on lap five behind the wheel of the No. 12 MM. Dunlop would then get alongside Wilman for second, with that quickly turning into a three-wide battle. Jordan would end up with the advantage, grabbing the spot ahead of Dunlop and Phinnemore. He was then able to track down and pass Rainey for the lead just before the caution flew for Dunlop going around in turn four on lap nine.
The entire race night would then go under a rain delay for an hour and a half, with the decision being made by track officials to allow the Late Models to run their feature before completing the final 12 laps of the Mighty Mini event.
When the feature resumed after the delay it’d be Fred Jordan leading Rainey, Dunlop, Phinnemore, Woyslaw, Seguin, Butler, Wilman and Montanari.
Jordan would get a good restart to keep the lead with Phinnemore moving into second ahead of Rainey and Woyslaw. Butler and Dunlop would battle for fifth till the second caution flew at lap 12 for St. Onge spinning in turn two. With nine laps to go, Jordan led Phinnemore, Rainey, Woyslaw, Dunlop, Butler, Seguin, Montanari, McGlashan, Wilman, Lapcevich, Semeraro, Holmes, Bos, Bullen, Campbell, DeLeeuw, Adams and St. Onge.
Jordan would get another good restart to keep the lead ahead of Phinnemore, Woyslaw, Rainey, Dunlop and butler. Phinnemore would track him down, getting alongside at lap 17 for the lead. Phinnemore would then put the No. 1 TC Tarpin Lumber & Truss, Avery Dennison, Signs of Innovation and Speedy Auto Machine Mighty Mini in the lead ahead of Jordan, Woyslaw, Rainey, Montanari and Dunlop. Last week’s winner Montanari would continue his climb through the field, passing Rainey for the fourth spot on lap 19. Rainey would fall back to fifth, ahead of Butler, Seguin and McGlashan.
At the front of the field, it was all Bob Phinnemore as he’d score the victory ahead of Fred Jordan. Stefan Woyslaw would finish third, followed by Nic Montanari and Eric Rainey. Richard Butler finished sixth, followed by Cameron McGlashan, Randi Seguin, Stefan Semeraro, Treyten Lapcevich, Nick St. Onge, Chandler Bos, Doug Wilman, Dylan Holmes, Joe Dunlop, Melissa Bullen, Mike Robinson Jr., Wendy Adams and Lisa DeLeeuw.
